Whoo-whooooo! All aboard the mountain express!

We thought we'd end my parents visit right with a little mountain get-a-way. We hopped the Via Rail Canadian Train bound for Jasper, Alberta, right in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. It was our first time on this train and we all agreed it was worth doing again. There's something really old fashioned about traveling by train - the click clack as you whiz down the tracks and the "whoo-whooooo" as you roll through towns. I love being able to just walk along between the cars, as they shimmy back and forth. There's an observation car with a glass dome on the second floor where you can sit and take in the scenery. We had brunch in the dining car, complete with white linen service. They were incredibly gracious servers and reassured us it was no problem that we had made a complete disaster of our table and surrounding area. They even loaded us up with free yogurt containers for the kids' snack later. It's a beautiful trip with gorgeous views in every direction. The conductor makes an announcement to point out the wildlife as we pass it. It's not uncommon to see bears, elk, moose and big horn sheep.

We enjoyed a couple of days in Jasper. It's a quaint little mountain town with plenty of shops and restaurants. We spent our time exploring town and hiking around the area.

We really enjoyed the rest of our visit with my parents, Nana and Poppy. We had beautiful weather and spent plenty of time outside, playing in the yard and going for walks to the park. They headed home bright and early Saturday morning. We loved having them and can't wait to see them again soon.